Birmingham City Council proposes a £4.5m expansion for two cemeteries

Birmingham City Council has proposed a £4.5m expansion to Kings Norton Cemetery and Yardley Crematorium.

Plans have been unveiled ahead of next week’s Cabinet meeting as King’s Norton Cemetery is set to reach capacity in less than two years. Soon there will be no graves available for baby and Muslim burials.

Opened in 2005, the cemetery had 219 burials per year taking place and then during the pandemic, that figure rose to an average of 525 burials a year.

The £2.25m expansion would facilitate phase 3 and 4 created in fields next to the cemetery to increase capacity.

In addition, the council has a separate report that outlines plans to replace the burners at Yardley Crematorium which were last replaced in the 1990s.

The burner technology will undergo a £2.25m upgrade to a more efficient two-burner system that produces cleaner emissions.

Both these schemes, which aim to improve facilities for local communities in south Birmingham, will be funded from Bereavement Services’ budget.

Paul Lankester, Interim Assistant Director for Regulation and Enforcement at Birmingham City Council, said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has had a massive impact on cemetery capacity, which has seen available grave space being used at a much greater rate than previously forecast.

“Kings Norton is currently the main cemetery in south Birmingham, so this investment is essential to enable us to further expand the site to meet immediate as well as future demands.

“Replacing the burner technology at Yardley Crematorium is also vital, as this was last renewed in the late 1990s and the new equipment is more efficient, producing improved air quality emissions.”